A Brand New Hope
by pearlydewdrop
Summary: Claire ponders how she has changed from the little girl who idolized her popular valedictorian of an older brother, to the young woman who dates the school's "criminal" and is a proud member of Shermer High School's infamous band of misfits. Claire Standish/John Bender. Will their young love survive the obstacles of growing up when all odds seem to be stacked against them?
1. Chapter 1

**A Brand New Hope**

 _When I was a kid I thought_  
 _I wanted all the things that I haven't got_  
 _Oh, I learned the hardest way_  
 _Then I realized what it took_  
 _To tell the difference between_  
 _Thieves and crooks_  
 _Lesson learned to me and you_

 _Give me something that I need_  
 _Satisfaction guaranteed_  
 _'Cause I'm thinking 'bout_  
 _A brand new hope_  
 _The one I've never known_  
 _'Cause now I know_  
 _It's all that I wanted_

 _~Green Day, Macy's Day Parade_

* * *

Jameson Standish was the model upper class son...right up until he wasn't anymore, that is.

He was tall and good looking, with short curly auburn hair and live-wire green eyes, certainly a boy never short of admirers- a heartbreaker who was too good to break anyones heart.

As a high schooler he had been popular, "a natural leader" his teachers had told a gushing George and Adelaide Standish whenever they would put on their happy family facade on and go to a PTA meeting.

He was captain of the school's football team, president of the Student Council, class valedictorian and got good grades to boot. He had been everything his little sister, eight years his junior, wanted to be when she got to high school.

Claire was nearly ten when her brother packed up his stuff and moved out, boarding the next flight to Europe straight after graduation to become a chef in École de Cuisine Alain Ducasse in Paris, even though it had always been the plan that he would go to Law School in Chicago and join the family firm.

Eight years later, he owned his own restaurant now on the The Champs-Élysées with two other chefs from America, one of which he was engaged to with a baby on the way.

At seventeen, Claire could still remember perfectly when her ten year old self had latched onto her big brother and sobbed when he told her of his plans to move, pointing out where Paris was on the pink and gold light up globe that sat on her bedside locker to show her where he was going to be.

 _"Please don't go Jamie", she had whispered into his Ralph Lauren shirt. She knew she couldn't be too loud about it, their parent hadn't known yet. She had been the first person he had told._

 _"Don't you worry about it one bit, Claire-Bear"(he was the only one allowed to call her that). "We'll talk all the time on the phone and I'll send you lots of postcards."_

 _"But Jamieeeee", Claire had whined, still not ready to let go of him. "Paris is sooo far away who's going to tell me stories and tuck me in and cut the crusts off my sandwiches"._

Claire remembered her younger self hoping that that whole conversation had been a dream, and in a minute Jamie would barge into her room and drag her out of bed and down to the breakfast table, tickling her until she would think she would die if he didn't stop.

It had all been real though.

 _Jamie had pulled back and squeezed her tiny hands in his much larger ones._

She couldn't see it back then but now that she was almost the same age as he had been when he left, she could empathise completely.

Jamie needed to get away from their parents, away from the pressure of being their perfect privilleged son, away from all the fighting. He needed to leave and become his own person, not the person they wanted him to become.

 _"You're gonna be fine Claire",He had told her seriously. "I promise."_

George and Adelaide Standish had been pissed beyond belief that their golden boy had left them and, as a result, their fighting became a lot worse. The both blamed each other for pushing Jamie away.

Claire just blamed both of them.

Claire and Jamie had expected their parents to split up years ago but divorce just seemed to loom over the Standish family like a storm cloud that never burst with rain.

(It seemed as though George Standish still needed his trophy wife, just like Adelaide needed her rich-ass husband)

In the years that followed, the pressure on Claire to be perfect and to make up for her brother straying off his predestined course became ten fold; ballet and piano lessons, new designer clothes, constant dieting and only being allowed to make friends with girls who had parents as wealthy as her own.

If she wasn't doing well in a class, her parents would hire a university professor to teach her in the evenings and since her brother had upped and gone to France, George had set his sights on his daughter to be the heir to the Standish family law firm.

She was very popular in school, definitely one of the favourites for prom queen and even though she was by no means a brainiac, her grades usually came home pretty good (mostly Bs).

She got her childhood wish...she was just like Jamie when he was in high school, but she still wasn't happy.

The girls she hung around with, the ones equally important on the Shermann High hierarchy as herself. She couldn't talk to them, even if she tried about anything important. They knew absolutely nothing about her beyond her designer cloths, her vacations abroad and her father's law firm.

Claire couldn't tell them about how her parents fought day in and day out. She couldn't tell them how they used her as a pawn to prove that one of them was better at being a parent then the other. She couldn't tell them about how she wanted to help people when she grew up. She couldn't tell them that she would never find a boyfriend among the football players and the school's wrestlers. She never told them she wanted to get as far as possible from Chicago, far away from her childhood and from her unsatisfying home life.

So she stuck to what a girl like her would be expected to talk about...the latest line of Gucci bags, designs for the prom queen crown and what she would wear to Homecoming.

Jamie called her regularly and they would chat for hours about his life in Paris and hers back in Shermer.

She never told him how bad the arguing had gotten between their parents or how she often felt peer pressure to keep her opinions to herself if they didn't align with those of her other super popular friends.

(She didn't want him to think she wasn't okay and she definitely didn't want to make him feel guilty for getting out while he had the chance)

Her parents assumption that she would grow up to be just like them never bothered her until she was past her seventeenth birthday, it niggled her for a while but she always brushed her worries about those kinds of things aside until one Saturday when everything she careful hid away was swept out from under the rug by four of the most unlikely people.

Claire really wouldn't mind being a lawyer, She knew her father helped people everyday in his line of work but the kind of personal life her parents had and the marriage they had gotten themselves into...the fighting, the not having time for each other, constantly putting the blame for your shared troubles on each other.

She wanted more than all that, it had been one of the many things she had learned about herself while serving Saturday detention. Things she had learned from the brain, the basket case, the jock and the criminal, The Breakfast Club (that was what Brian had nicknamed their band of misfits).

She didn't want her heart to die when she grew up. She cared, just like Allison did and something told her the boys did too.

Since that Saturday Claire had seen a lot more of The Breakfast Club...particularly John Bender if she was being honest.

 _She knew as her father drove her up to the front steps of Shermann High that Monday morning that she was commiting social suicide by wanting to be friends with Brian, Andy and Alisson ( and maybe even a little more than friends with John) but she remembered how her brother had stood up to their parents and became a chef...She got her bravery from that, not to mention how she had spotted John at the school gates (a tell tale twinkle in his ear telling her that he had kept her diamond) with some of his burner friends._

 _Surely, She could stand up to her so called "friends" and tell them that The Breakfast Club were her friends too, that she wanted them to be a part of her life from then on out._

(And she did tell them, but it was later on that day when they had already found out anyway and word had gotten around the school. Beforehand, Claire thought she would be upset if they didn't understand her choices but, in reality, when they did turn on her (even though it stung more than a little) she could see their friendship and the popularity that came with it probably hadn't been worth the huge effort she had been putting in for the past five years)

 _John had teasingly bowed to her with a little jerk of his head and a smooth rolling gesture of his hand, his eyes flashing devilishly as he caught her staring at him._

 _She couldn't hear him from inside her father BMW as they drove by but she knew him well enough to know what he was mouthing to her. "Princess"._

 _Claire could still hear Bender's voice from Saturday in her ears, rolling the Ss at the end of Princess as he tugged on her ear lobe, kissing her neck as her fingers got lost in his long chestnut tresses._

 _He smelled of tobacco, smoke and cheap cologne and his mouth was warm and hungry._

 _She was thankful her father didn't notice the blush that crept up on her cheeks as she waved goodbye to him and got out of the car._

 _She knew Bender had suggested that dating him would be a good way to get even with her mom and dad and even though she had agreed, Claire couldn't help but feel attracted to him beyond that._

 _He made her feel something. He felt like fire and he infuriated her to the point where she wasn't sure whether to slap him or push him hard against the nearest surface and crush his lips with her own._

 _John met her outside the science lab before second period, Chemistry was the only class they shared and Claire had been pretty such that he had only been there once or twice all year._

 _Incidentally, it was also the only class she didn't share with one of her girl posse and for once, she was glad of it. She needed to talk to him._

At the time, it crossed Claire's mind that people could see them, a princess and a criminal interacting in a crowded corridor, but as soon as John had leaned in, a lot more close than necessary, to talk to her those thoughts flew right out of her head.

His breath hot in her ear just like it had been after they had made out in the janitor's closet the previous Saturday.

 _"Hey Cherry. Funny seeing you without your ladies in waiting."_

Claire remembered smirking at that. _"I could say the same about you and your burnout friends?"._

If she was being honest she had actually been surprised that he showed up to talk with her at all. After herself, she had pinned him to be the least likely of The Breakfast Club to break the status quo of Shermer High and talk with someone outside their clique.

After all, she and John were at two opposite ends of The High School Spectrum, both popular in their own ways and among their own crowds but their two worlds weren't designed to meet.

Everybody laughed at his jokes but underneath it all most people were afraid of hoods like John.

Claire, on the other hand, was part of the crowd that fancied themselves loved and envied by the rest of the student body, or at least that was what she had thought until their Saturday detention.

Their paths weren't mean to cross. A princess shouldn't have met or a criminal like him (or a basket case, brain or jock for that matter) but it had changed everything and Claire wouldn't have it any other way.

At first, to her anyway, their relationship was like an act of rebellion. In a world where she was the perfect daughter who did everything her "perfect" parents wished of her, John Bender was to her what Paris had been for her brother...a way to escape.

She just hadn't expected him to turn into more than that...a person who understood her, a person who she cared about far beyond that.

 _John shrugged noncommittally at her question, leaning forward to press his hand into the lab door behind her so that he was hovering in front of her. "They're off doing what they do, Sweets."_

 _Claire tried not to react to his proximity (or to one of his many silly nicknames for her) but he was so close to her now. His nose was almost touching hers right in the middle of the school corridor for all to see. She couldn't help thinking back on the previous Saturday and what had happened between them in that closet. She had never let any boy touch her and kiss her like that before!_

 _"You mean they're getting high behind the bleachers, like you guys are always off doing during first period."_

 _John had smiled teasingly at that, eyeing her suggestively. "So you have kept an eye on me before Saturday. Well, I'm flattered. I knew you couldn't ignore me if you tried"_

 _"In your dreams, John Bender."_

 _"Oh, you don't know the half of it Princess."_

That had been the start of it, the start of what had been going on between them for the last month and more. They teased each other, argued, made out and then repeated the cycle, finding some kind of almost harmonious equilibrium between them, all the while spending ridiculous amounts of time either alone together or hanging out alongside The Breakfast Club.

Claire knew she, as a stereotypical 'good girl' had been warned off of 'bad boys' by her parents, the girls who used to be her friends and by society itself.

But no one had ever said anything about bad boys who were, underneath it all, good men.

They were the hardest of all to resist, as Claire Standish was coming to know.

Her ex-friends had always teased her about her hesitancy to date. They asked her if she was waiting for a handsome prince on a white horse to come sweep her off of her feet when in actuality she had given her heart to the ring leader of the school's rough side of town rebels.

A guy who's goodness and kindness was wrapped up tightly underneath layers of denim, leather, flannel, sex appeal, cigarette smoke, self preservation and sarcasm.

A guy who drove her absolutely insane but who she couldn't keep her hands off of at the same time.

 _'Sweets, you couldn't ignore me if you tried"_...but she didn't try any more, in fact Claire was pretty sure she never had.

Before she had met The Breakfast Club, Claire had never imagined herself falling in love with a guy like John. She hadn't said it aloud to him yet but she felt it deep down inside and even though she was uncertain, sometimes she found herself believing that he felt just the same.

Times where, between his teasing and smirking and scoffing, his dark eyes would soften in a way that they only did for her.

She has often heard people say that a girl wants a bad boy that is only good for her, and that a boy wants a good girl who is only bad for him...she reckoned that there was some truth to that now.

She felt accepted with John. He taught her to be brave and how to let go...and she loved him for it, loved him for the man he was deep down underneath the rebel he showed everyone else.


	2. Chapter 2

_**"Be Fearless In The Pursuit Of Whatever Sets Your Soul On Fire" ~Anon**_

* * *

A little over a month after that fateful Saturday in detention, Claire found herself, on the second night of Spring break, observing her reflection in the full length Georgian Mirror in her bedroom as she applied a minimal amount of that 'black shit' she had borrowed from Allison to go with her little black dress, fishnets and oxblood red ankle boots.

'When in Rome, dress like a Roman', she mumbled to herself, getting to the task of giving herself a light smoky eyeshadow look as she waited for Bender who was predictably late.

Her brother Jamie was home for the week for the first time in almost eighteen months and even though it had been hard to sneak out of the house and spend time with John over the last few days (her parents didn't notice whenever she was missing but Claire knew Jamie would), she was glad to have her older brother back around even if it was only for a little while.

She had excused herself, saying she was feeling sick and needed some sleep. Neither her parents or Jamie had thought a lot of it at the time...much to Claire's relief and she had headed upstairs to change.

Just then she heard a rustling behind her and jumped when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist.

Claire turned around only to find the door that lead to her balcony open and John Bender, dressed in his signature trench coat and denims, standing right behind her.

"What the hell, John", she cried indignantly, swatting him on the chest. "You scared the shit out of me."

John cackled loudly, flopping back on the edge of her goose feather mattress and tugging her gently to stand between his legs until he could have a better look at her.

Claire couldn't help the pleased smirk that took residence on her face as his dark eyes blatantly took in the sight of her in her much more form fitting then usual dress.

His fiery gaze lingering on her breasts and hips and his warm hands slipped up the backs of her thighs, setting off little trails of sparks in their wake.

Biting her lip to hide a smile, she ran her fingertips through his soft shaggy hair (Damn she loved his hair, loved that she had so much of it to run her fingers through when he was looking up at her like that), coming to rest on his neck.

"My eyes are up here", Claire told him teasingly, cupping his chin and guiding it upwards until their eyes met.

This had been just the reaction she had been hoping for.

John quickly got his bearings again, hitching on that ridiculously handsome bravado smirk that she had hated at first but had recently come to love. "I should take you out to concerts more often, Sweets. You look hot!"

He tried to hide the genuine smile that was lurking underneath. He had been shocked shitless when his princess of a girlfriend had offered to go to a couple of rock concerts with him if he would go to the Senior Prom that summer with her.

Despite his joking and fooling around, John had never intended to not go with her to prom. He just liked pissing her by telling her she'll be the only princess on the prom committee without a date or by telling her that Prom was for those wrestler guys who were training their junk to drop back up into the abdomens.

He knew since before he had even properly met Claire what a High School Prom meant to a girl like her and even though he knew it wouldn't be his scene (as much as a metal concert wouldn't be her scene), he loved her enough to go with it.

Yeah, that was right he was in LOVE with Claire Standish...he just hadn't quite gotten up the nerve to tell her yet.

He had never been this way with a girl before. Sure he had considered them, fucked them and then left them (that was what the kind of girls he usually associated himself with expected from him so he just went along with it) but he had never before wanted the kissing and the arguing and the dating and the shameless oggling.

Before last month he had never even called up a girl with (almost) innocent intentions.

John Bender would never call himself whipped, fuck no...but maybe he was starting to see the appeal of a more steady relationship...not that he was turning into a complete bonehead like good old Jockstrap Andy Clarke or anything.

He wasn't going to start sending flowers and chocolate any time soon. He wasn't the kind of guy that went for picnics in the park or and he sure as he'll wasn't wearing one of those monkey suit tuxs to Prom.

But he was starting to think that Claire didn't want all that...she seemed to just want him.

No one in his life so far, not even his parents, seemed to just want him...but Claire Standish, resident Princess of Shermer High, did and that made all the difference...Frankly, it blew his mind.

"I thought you liked my regular clothes?", Claire questioned teasingly, thinking of the pastel coloured skirts and dresses she wore under her brown leather jacket to school.

John let out a bark of laughter. "I like you in most things, Cherry", he told her teasingly, settling his hand on her hips and reached up to kiss her neck. He meant it, he really did find her gorgeous but that didn't mean he wasn't going to have some fun with her.

"Everything", he punctuated it with a kiss. Claire felt her joking smile slip and she bit back a moan.

"Anything", another kiss. Claire was concentrating too much on the feel of his warm mouth on her bare skin to notice him smile wolfishly against her neck. "Nothing", this time John squeezed her hips and Claire squealed, pushing him away.

"You pig, John Bender!"

John chuckled, flopping back on her bed. "So, sue me", he declared, challengingly. "You know you love it!"

He knew she did, just as much as he loved getting under her skin. He loved how her cheeks reddened, how her chest heaved as she rolled her eyes and how she put her hands on her hips and stamped her foot.

He loved her in general, he just had to figure out how to tell her that...and tell her he damn well would.

* * *

 **Aaaaand that's all I've got for you guys as of right now! I super hope you enjoyed reading it and it would really make my day if you would even leave an itty bitty review to tell me you liked it (or hated it, it's a free county!) and if you want to read more :)**

 **Thanks for reading. Hope you have an awesome day,**

 **Pearlydewdrop**


	3. Chapter 3

_**I Want**_ _ **To Be With You...**_

 _ **It's As Simple and Complicated As That.**_

 ** _~Anon_**

* * *

It was large, certainly, almost intimidatingly so. Built using natural grey stone with all the hues mother nature can provide. The paintwork on the trim was brilliant white, flawless and the path wound to a double oak front door in loose pea shingle.

It was nearly 3am when Claire finally pulled her father's silver BMW back into the driveway up to her house, the biggest one on the block.

Surprisingly she had actually enjoyed the concert. The music, to her anyway, was awful but not quite as bad as she had expected. She had even shocked herself and John by joining in on the more popular of the songs that she recognised from the radio. It was fun, spending time with him, it always was.

But she knew if she stayed out any longer...Someone would eventually notice her gone. If not her parents or Jamie, then one of the maids in the house. ' _Guess we have to get the princess back to her tower', John had said after a couple hours._

She turned to John, "You do know I could just drop you home, right?"

John shook his head. He didn't want Claire anywhere near his house. It was bad enough that he had to put up with his drunken son of a bitch father and his crazy-ass mother between now and graduation without Claire having to meet them as well.

She was one of the few truly good things in his life and he'd be damned it he let his parents, his friends or even himself fuck that up.

"Naah, sweetheart, I can make my own way home from here. Princesses need their beauty sleep. And..", he added with a half hearted smirk. "My part of town wouldn't be a good place for a richie like you in Daddy's BMW."

Claire took the car out of gear and killed the engine, turning to face him with a frown.

Ever since they started dating, John had point blank refused to take her anywhere near his neighbourhood, his house or his parents. He had shown up at her house, without explanation and covered in bruises with questioningly broken ribs, in the middle of the night to talk more than a few times.

She may not have been as smart as Brian or as quietly insightful as Allison but she wasn't an idiot. Claire knew who had hurt him.

When she had asked he hadn't offered any kind of explaination and beyond what he had told her and the breakfast club when he was doing that little roleplay of what his family was like, she hadn't a lot to hon on.

"You know, I don't care what part of town you're from or what your house looks like, John", she told him firmly. "I couldn't care less about any of that, I know what I signed up for when i started seeing y-".

John cut her off with a glare. "What you signed up for, Claire? I'm not your charity case", he responded angerily even though, deep down he knew she wasn't just the material girl he assumed that she was back before he got to know her.

She wasn't just some wealthy suburban princess rebelling by doing what every other suburban princess does. He wanted to believe she really cared about him beyond all that, even though he knew he couldn't just ask her outright.

And besides, he had never let anyone close enough to him to give out more than vague details about his home life...how much more could Claire really ask for?

"Of course not, John", Claire told him feeling more and more frustrated by the second. How the he'll could just one guy make her feel all these different emotions at once. Until she could barely keep up with herself any more. Concern, frustration, adoration. Ugh... "I just...I care a lot about you and see myself in this with you for the long haul, I'm not talking marriage or anyth-"

John cut her off again, hotly. "So you say this is long haul but then you say that you would never marry me. What the fuck is that, Claire? You just want to fool around until you find some preppy Prince Charming, is that it? Someone mummy and daddy would love?"

He could see her getting upset and hated himself for it but he couldn't let her near certain parts of his life right now. He would tell her whatever she wanted when he had gotten as far away as possible from his parents and had his shit somewhat together...if Claire even stuck around that long.

Claire felt tears stinging her eyes and wipes them away furiously. "You are such a fucking jerk sometimes, John Bender...and you're completely changing the subject."

John made to interrupt her but Claire silenced him angrily with an icy glare and for once she managed to shut him up. "No I need to get this out! Firstly, the only reason I never bring up the future is because I'm afraid to scare the crap out of you and push you away. Secondly, I don't give a shit what my parents think of us being together and thirdly, I ask about your home life because I care and because you show up outside my window at all hours looking like you've been assaulted. You come to school on the hottest day of the year in a long sleeved t-shirt, saying it's "your image" when it's really to cover your bruises and then you jump down my throat because I'm telling you that none of that is going to scare me away...I love you, you asshole. Get over it!"

By the time she was finished, Claire took a shaky unsteady breath and wiped away the tears of frustration that had manage to creep out of her eyes.

All of it was out on the table now. They were no longer playing poker with their feelings, holding the truth right to their chests.

John looked at her dumbfounded, feeling a little lost for words. He could have said something sarcastic or nasty that would be totally characteristic for him but, for a second anyway,he just looked at her.

Then his personality kicked back in...

"You should come with a warning label, your highness", he deadpanned, voice recovering but his dark eyes were still wide in amazement. Did she just say that she loved him?

Claire rolled her eyes, huffing slightly and turned away from him. If he was going to respond he would have immediately, right? She knew that John being John responded to everything with a snarky quip but surely an 'I love you' warranted a bit more than off the cuff reply if he felt the same

She didn't want to show him how upset she was.

He took in the sight of her as she avoided his eye, looking more like a little girl who was too stubborn to admit she was upset than the seventeen year old she was.

"You sure about that, I'm not exactly the Mr Alligator Shirt you probably had in mind?"

Claire grumbled quietly, her eyes glassy with tears. "Forget it, John", she whispered, making a point not not to look at him.

But for John, there was alarm bells going off like crazy inside his head. She meant it! She really actually meant it!

He smiled, a real genuine smile and not his usual cocky one.

"Claire", he said gently, his head tilted, his eyes shy and a slightly sly smile playing about his lips as he reached for her knee. His expression reminded her of their first kiss in the closet that day in detention when she finally lost her resolve and looked at him. "Claire, listen to me."

John sighed deeply. He wasn't good with feelings, not really. He couldn't just let himself feel everything inside of him like she could, but he did know he loved her. He did know that even though everything and everyone would say otherwise, they were good for each other.

Claire Standish taught him to love, truly love. How could he deprive her of knowing that when knowing that she loved him made him feel more hopeful than he had in seventeen years.

"I love you too, Claire", he said, reaching out and cupping one side of her neck. She leaned into his touch, fresh tears filling her eyes and he smiled, hoping they were tears of happiness this time as wiped them away.

He didn't care about being whipped or not anymore...not when she was looking at him like that.

"Then don't push me away, John", Claire whispered.

She could feel butterflies in her stomach and weakness in her knees, as though as hugely important puzzle piece had just dropped into place. She felt like a walking cliche but she couldn't find herself caring even a little bit. John Bender loved her...and she was going to do her damnest to be there for him in whatever way he would allow. "I can help you. I want to help you. Let me be there for you."

John sighed in frustration. How the hell could he make her see? She may despise her parents and the way they treat her and each other but she had an easier home life then he did.

Hers was beautiful on the outside and messy as hell on the inside. His was just plain fucked up in nearly every way possible. How could she understand what it was like to not feel safe going home? How could she understand what it was like to have memories of near brushes with death (from your father of all people?) before you learned to get by and fend for yourself.

Claire had it hard at home, but she wouldn't understand just how bad things could be in the hood.

And honestly...he wasn't sure he wanted her too. He didn't want to lead her into a situation where anything bad could happen her...and his house was a cradle for bad stuff happening.

"Look, my old man knocks me around a little bit from time to time and I don't want to land you into a situation where you would be uncomfortable...It's not a big deal."

Out of the corner of his eye, John could see Claire's expression change to the one she wore when he showed Andy the cigarette burn on his arm and when he showed up at her house for the first time after one of his more brutal run-ins with his dad.

He didn't want her to feel sorry for him, they all had shit to deal with...His parents just left him with more physical scar to match her and the rest of the breakfast club's emotional ones.

"And besides..", he added with a smirk, trying to lighten the mood. "A princess like you wouldn't want to go inside my shit hole of a house in her five hundred dollar shoes."

He didn't just mean literally either, letting Claire in on what it was truly like at the Bender household would open a whole other can of worms. She would probably want him to go to the cops or the school guidance councillor or something...Hell no.

Claire looked up at him determinedly, her fingers absentmindedly running up his inner arm to hover over the scar left over from his father's handiness with a lit cigarette. She completely ignored his snarky comment, he was just trying to distract her by getting under her skin and she knew it.

"I just think we need to talk about it, John. If I don't understand, help me to. I know all about crappy parents even if mine aren't quite like yours. You don't need to protect me from anything when I already know it's a part of what makes you you. Nothing could change my opinion of you."

John knew she was thinking about that day in detention when they had all shared personal stories about their home lives, he could see it in her eyes. "Claire, I...", he started but wasn't sure how to put any of it into words. Surely, there was another reason, beyond just wanting to protect Claire, why he wanted to keep her away from knowing the full truth about his parent and his home.

Was he afraid Claire would think he was going to become like his father?...That Principal Dick-Head Vernon seemed to think so anyway.

 _"You think he's funny? You think this is cute? You think he's "bitchin," is that it? Let me tell you something. Look at him - he's a bum. You want to see something funny? You go visit John Bender in five years. You'll see how goddamned funny he is."_

As soon as the thought occurred to him, he realised that was almost as big a problem as anything else he had already said or any other excuse he had come up with in his head.

He, John Bender, was fucking terrified of turning into an abusive drunken prick like his old man.

 _My God, Are we gonna turn into our parents?_

"I..don't want to be like my old man...ever", he finished simply, quietly. "You ever see that Jack Nicholson movie, the one where he's some psycho caretaker who goes after his wife and kid with an axe", he stopped for a second,upon seeing Claire's blank expression, and did an impression. "Heeeeere's Johnny".

She nodded shortly, feeling sick to her stomach. Hadn't the guy in that movie tried to kill his kid?

"Let's just say that he and my old man would have some fun times if they got together."

Claire took his hand and squeezed but waited for him to say something else. She had a feeling John wasn't quite finished yet. She could see in his eyes that he was fighting back words, there had to be more too it.

"I don't want you to look at him or my mom and see them in me...because it scares me shitless sometimes when I see a resemblance myself."

John looked away from her and out the window to her big fancy house as though it too was mocking him and how different he and Claire were.

She was a fucking princess...and he was just wanted to be a better man than his father.

Claire hated seeing him defeated like this, he looked vulnerable and much younger than his almost eighteen years. "You're not him, John", she told him quietly. "You're not your dad or your mom. You're a good guy."

John chuckled at that, giving her a boyish wink and once again proving he couldn't be serious for more than five seconds at a time. Inside, he was surprised to feel a little relieved. If Claire saw the good in him then maybe there was hope. He sure wanted there to be hope anyway.

He wouldn't be able to get up in the morning if he knew he was only going to grow up and become just like his dad.

But a good guy?...might be a little to far.

"ME?", John said, eyebrows raised. "A good guy? Who have you been dating for the last month, Sweets?"

Claire smiled reluctantly, shaking her head. "You suck, John Bender", she said with a faint smile. Idly swinging their entwined fingers.

They might not have talked it all out that night...but that had gotten somewhere, right?

Enough serious stuff...for now anyway, Claire had gotten a closer look at the shadows inside him and remarkably...stayed. If anything was gonna put a pep in his step right then that would and he would would damn well try and put a smile on her face too.

John smirked suggestively, reaching for the lever to open the door on the passenger side, his dark eyes glinted with mischief as he pecked her swiftly on the mouth.

"That's not right, Cherry! You're the one who sucks...I lick", and with that he jumped out of the car with a final bark of laughter, knowing only too well he would leave a half flustered and half pissed princess in his wake.

Claire rolled her eyes in frustration, but couldn't ignore the jolt of electricity that shot through her at his words. If she was being honest, she had been ready for a while now. She wanted to take the next step with John but had been too afraid up until then...but he loved her now and she had told him that she loved him so...

"Hey John", Claire said rolling down the window. She tried to keep her voice level and to stop her cheeks flushing but it probably didn't work. He turned around, surely ready to make some snarky comment about her already missing him but she got there first.

"Wanna come up to my room and show me how that works?"

* * *

 **A/N: Hiya! Thank you so much if you've read this far. I would really love if you left me a review!**

 **Have an awesome day :)**


	4. Chapter 4

_**I love your rough edges**_

 _ **and soft parts that bleed.**_  
 _ **The ruins of your soul**_  
 _ **are poetry to me.**_

 _ **~Anna Krizzan**_

* * *

 _Have you ever been felt up? Over the bra, under the blouse, shoes off... hoping to God your parents don't walk in?..._ She had now, with John Bender no less. Her pre-detention self would have been disgusted but not now...never again. She could feel him everywhere and everywhere had never felt so good.

She wanted him. No, needed him. She probably did from the moment she first met him.

But it wasn't just lust anymore; she trusted John more than she had ever trusted anyone before.

John pulled her close, their bare chests flush against one another, hands fumbling with buttons and bra hooks. "I swear to god, Princess. I won't stop until your legs are shaking and the neighbours know my name."

Claire giggled, unzipping his rough denim trousers as he gently pushed her back on to her fluffy pink duvet. "Shhh, John. My parents and brother are down the hall", but she couldn't bite back her smile as she slid her hands through his long shaggy hair, his dark hooded eyes, teasingly featherlight touch on her hips and devilish grin setting her alight.

Who was the tease now!

God, She loved him. She loved how he annoyed her, how he drove her crazy with frustration and how he cared about her underneath it all more than anyone else ever had.

 _Over the panties, no bra, blouse unbuttoned, Calvins in a ball on the front seat, past eleven on a school-night?_

It was meant to happen like this, sheets rustling in her darkened too pink room and his dark eyes all she could see.

Warm bodies, sweaty backs, tugging at hair.

No panties. No boxers. Skin on skin.

John had done this before, of course he had..but never quite like this, not with a girl he really wanted, a girl who made him crazy but he loved anyway. Nothing could compare to this.

Nothing could prepare him for the feel of her coming around him, for the look in her eyes afterwards or for the roaring wave of affection that ran through him (slightly foreign and a bit bizarre but as much a part of him now as his arms and legs or the blood running through his veins).

'Fuck I'm in trouble', he thought to himself. 'The princess is going to be the death of me.'

But he already knew that. He had from the moment she had walked into him in that damn closet the day they met in detention.

 _She was his. And he was hers. And this was their world..._ they would find a way to be together.

The princess and the criminal.

"I love you."

"I love you too, sweets."


	5. Chapter 5

_**The Best Relationships Are The Ones You Never Saw Coming**_

 _ **~Anon**_

* * *

Sunlight shone through the rose coloured gauzy curtain, giving them a transculent glow.

He had just woken up.

John watched as Claire shifted in her sleep, a faint smile appearing on her lips. Somehow her one tiny little body had managed to hog most of the mattress in sleep. Her head was on his chest and her arms and legs were splayed out in all directions under the sheets...definitely something to tease her about later.

He gently slipped out from under her and untangled his legs from hers, taking his time not to wake her up in the process.

Just because he had to be up at an ungodly hour for a Saturday doesn't mean she should have to aswell.

His eyes drifted to the darkening bruise that he'd sucked into her collar bone, and his dick, supposedly spent after a night of fantastic...lovemaking, he guessed Claire would call it, twitchedtwitched at the memory of the surge of possessiveness that had over taken as his teeth sunk into her ivory skin...and it wasn't just him either, the princess had left quite a few marks of her own on him too, the trail of lovebites up the side of his neck was proof enough of that...who knew?

He tucked a strand of scarlet hair that had fallen into her face behind her ear, trying not to feel like too much of a sap while doing it.

A voice in his head told him he was totally whipped...but he just told it to fuck off.

It would be uncomfortable to wake up with your hair in your face, right? He knew that from personal experience...it had absolutely nothing to do with wanting to touch her one more time before he would see her again on Monday...NOTHING...well maybe it had...maybe...He liked that he was the guy who got to touch her, okay?

Like the detention veteran he was, John Bender was well used to not sleeping in on Saturday mornings. He could have blown off Vernon, and he had tried to in earlier years, but the school board had threatened him to another year of High School should he not attend each and every detention he clocked up this year.

Which would have been fine considering it would have gotten him away from his father for a couple hours before he could crash at a friend's house and smoke a joint later in the evening...but he had a girlfriend in the picture now, and not like the ones he just considered before..a real relationship this time.

It might have been nice to spend a little longer with her...that's all he was saying.

Grabbing some girly-ass stationary and post-it notes from Claire's desk, John went about writing her a note.

He couldn't have her waking up thinking he'd ditched her.

Pre-detention him would have, without a second thought, but not now and not Claire. She was special and in a life where nobody thought he would amount to anything, being loved by her and getting to love her back meant everything.

Neither of them could have ever seen it coming, but their relationship was really good. Yes, they annoy each other, piss each other off and say stupid things.

Maybe it wouldn't work out, but maybe seeing if it does will be the best adventure ever.

He loved her and she loved him and it felt amazing...like something swelling up inside him that would have him going around grinning like an absolute idiot had he not been able to keep his expression in check.

But he wasn't sappy about it. Hell no...not John.

He gently stuck the adhesive covered end of the note to his sleeping girlfriend's forehead and stepped back for one last look at her.

'She was gonna be pissed when she found a crumpled note stuck to her forehead', he thought to himself with a smirk.

And with a final peck on the forehead (and no, he was still not a sap) John Bender had left the building.

* * *

It was nearly afternoon when Claire Standish found herself waking up to an empty bed and a sticky note stuck to her forehead. ''Typical John", she grumbled to herself, peeling it off and scouting the room for any signs that he had just headed for her ensuite bathroom.

There was no clothes that belonged to him anywhere in sight, just her dress and underwear from the previous night that had been thrown hazardously across the floor.

But the sheets still smelled liked him...and what they had done together.

She flushed at the memory, covering her face a little with her hands even though there was no one around to see her blush.

She had never felt close like that with anyone before. No one had ever made her feel that good. She could still feel him all over, on her slightly sticky skin and the soreness between her legs (it hadn't been quite as painful as she thought it would be, more like the kind of pain that told you that you were alive and that you are truly living)

Claire couldn't tear herself from the feeling of having him inside her for the first time or from the image of him looking up at her, quite smug, from between her thighs after she had come down from the first real high of her life.

A sheen on his chin and a weirdly arousing tangy taste in his mouth as he came up to kiss her softly and reverently, a total contradiction to the burning passion she saw in his eyes and felt in his needy thrusts...

She needed something to distract herself and began reading his scrawled note..

 _Morning, Cherry (Guess, I can't call you that anymore though, can I?)_

 _I didn't want to wake you up. Princesses need their beauty sleep, right? Especially if they were kept up all night ;)_

 _I really wish I were there to give you a proper wake up call, if you know what I'm sayin'...it's too bad I have a hot date with Dick the Prick. I'll send him your regards._

 _Know that if another eight hours spent alone with our darling Principal finally kills me, my last thoughts were of you...and how I need to get you into trouble so I don't have to spend every Saturday for the rest of the year in detention without any company from my favourite redhead._

 _See you on the flip side, Sleeping beauty. I'll be thinking about you...no promises that it'll be PG_

 _Love, J.B_

Not exactly your most quintessential love letter but the sheer Johnness of it made her smile and gave her those stomach butterflies that she had been reading about in romance novels since the beginning of time.

Trying not to look too happy (since she had told Jamie and her parents that she had felt sick last night in order to get away), Claire stowed the letter into her bedside locker and pulled on a pair of pyjamas before heading downstairs.


	6. Chapter 6

**A Brand New Hope**

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 _..._

 _What's the consolation prize?_

 _Economy sized dreams of hope_

 _Give me something that I need_

 _Satisfaction guaranteed_

 _Because I'm thinking 'bout_

 _A brand new hope_

 _The one I've never known_

 _And where it goes_

 _And I'm thinking 'bout_

 _The only road_

 _The one I've never known_

 _And where it goes_

 _~A Brand New Hope, Green Day_

 _..._

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Claire Standish slumped against the red brick wall that separated the school car park from the grounds of Shermer High.

Everyone was already gone home with their families; Brian, Andy, Allison even an older cousin of John's had made it to Shermer from her tattoo parlour in Boston for the day.

Sitting on the ground, Claire found herself not caring in the slightest that she was probably destroying The Dolce and Gabbana dress that her father had paid a small fortune as a graduation gift for her.

But her parents, the assholes that they were, left her! Apparently the day of her graduation had been the perfect time to start up their age old argument...who loved her more.

...and then, following all of the shouting and screaming that almost inevitably took place after every other family had left with their kids, they had gotten in their cars and abandoned their youngest daughter.

The idiots were too caught up in their ridiculous argument to realise that they had left the subject of said argument behind!

Jerks!

"Alright down there, Princess", a voice called from somewhere above her, making her jump.

Claire looked up, coming face to face with her boyfriend John Bender. He was dressed in his usual denims and woollen grey trench coat. (Evidently, graduating High School hadn't been enough of a reason for him to deviate from his usual fashion patterns.)

However, despite how that had initially bothered her a little when she first caught sight of him on the football pitch this morning, Claire couldn't be happier to see him now.

"I take it that The King and Queen of Suburbia ditched you?"

Claire scoffed humourlessly, crossing her legs and decidedly not moving an inch from the spot on the ground where she had chosen to sulk. "I'm afraid so...assholes."

John smiled apologetically, genuinely... and it did something to ease the pain of rejection that Claire felt in the pit of her stomach.

She might not have her family...but she did have John and their friends.

"I'm sorry, Claire. I know how much the day meant to you. Especially with your brother coming over from France and all", John said, reaching into his pocket and tugging out a small hip flask of Jack Daniels that he had managed to filch from his father's supply.

After taking a quick mouthful, he tossed it to Claire who drank deeply.

John smiled softly, proudly, to himself. He had been quite taken aback the first time he had seen his princess drink. He had expected her to be lightweight wine cooler kind of girl, but she had surprised him and was more than capable of taking on the best of the boys when it came to hard liquor.

After a few minutes, Claire returned his smile half heartedly. "Thanks John, I mean that...it's just that, Jamie and I get so little time together since he moved away, and we were all supposed to meet at the restaurant for a meal after graduation...and well, Mom and Dad just left."

Frowning thoughtfully, John reached out his hand to help her up. "Well then Princess, you need a ride?".

He gestured underhandedly to a gleaming new motorbike that had been parked up at the edge of the school's car park. "A graduation gift from my cousin Tammy."

Claire smiled, genuinely happy for him. At least despite how awfully his own parents treated him, it was a comfort to know that John had some family who cared. "Aww John, it looks awesome! Congratulations!"

John smiled, tugging her gently by the hand towards his new wheels.

It wasn't just a bike to him (and it was a very sweet bike). No, for John his new motorcycle symbolised a way out of Shermer, a way to get away from his toxic and abusive parents...and a way to make something of himself and become the man that he knew his princess deserved.

"So where did you say that restaurant was, sweets?".

Claire grinned excitedly, more than ready to be on the bike and away with John.

She tried to imagine a scenario when John met her family and it went well.

Her mother would probably hate him and her father would probably pretend to love him just to spite her mother.

...but what about Jamie. Jamie wasn't prejudiced or opinionated about people who came from a different background to them, probably even more so than she, herself, had become over the past few months.

How would Jamie get along with her boyfriend?...very well she could only imagine.

Claire was sure that her darling brother would see just how much she loved John Bender and how much John loved her in return.

He would approve of them, wouldn't he?

"Oh John", Claire said, climbing on to the back just as she made up her mind that yes, her brother and her boyfriend would get along just fine. "I can't wait for you to meet Jamie!"

...

And so, the Princess and the Criminal faced the open road side by side...just as they would face their future.

* * *

XXXXXXXXXXXX

...

 _And I'm thinking 'bout_

 _A brand new hope_

 _The one I've never known_

 _'Cause now I know_

 _It's all that I wanted_

 _~Brand new Hope, Green Day_

 _..._


End file.
